PORTLAND, Maine — On the heels of a summer that featured a potentially record-breaking lobster haul in Maine and Canada and a crash in wholesale prices, top lobster scientists are meeting in Maine to look at fundamental changes that have affected the industry in recent years.

The Maine Sea Grant program is hosting a conference in Portland focusing on things such as warming ocean temperatures, the changing food web and seafood economics. About 135 people have registered, including scientists from the United States, Canada and Europe.

Conference co-Chairman Rick Wahle, a University of Maine research professor, said the lobster industry is at a critical juncture, with the Maine harvest going gangbusters but the fishery virtually collapsed in southern New England.

The symposium begins with a Tuesday evening reception and wraps up Friday.